The History and Origin of the Spanish Language
The history and origin of Spanish is truly fascinating and a must-know for all Spanish learners. Currently, Spanish is spoken by 400 million people around the world. This number continues to grow, even in countries where Spanish isn’t the official language (such as the United States). Embracing the origin of the Spanish language allows you to understand the journey and...Read More
Spook your Spanish-speaking Friends with These Popular Costumes!
Halloween is a celebration of all that’s scary. It’s one of the oldest holidays we celebrate and a personal favorite of mine! Traditionally, Mexico and Central America only celebrated Día de los Muertos on November 1st. Halloween has been celebrated to a lesser extent, and it only became a big holiday in recent years. As the month of October creeps in, you can start to hear people...Read More
Open a Bank Account in Guatemala
Who Needs a Bank Account in Guatemala? In the last couple of years, I’ve had the pleasure to meet some wonderful and interesting people. Among them, there’s an American friend of mine who’s very special. She was born in Guatemala and adopted at a very young age by a Jewish family in the US. I met her because she came to her birth country to get to know the culture, customs, and language of...Read More
Spanish Words for Travelers
Among my group of friends and colleagues, business trips are as common as ordering your next latte at Starbucks. It is given that in most work environments, you are going to get on a plane and travel…very far… and oftentimes land in a Spanish-speaking country. Just in the past year I have heard business travel stories from Spain, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Bolivia,...Read More
September 15: a Day of Collective Independence
September in Central America is as colorful as any other holiday should be. Weeks before the 15th, the streets, markets, houses, and cars become adorned with hundreds of flags. Cities are dressed in patriotic colors by their citizens. Schools start practicing for the parades and concerts, marching bands can be heard all around town getting ready for the big day when festivities will take...Read More
How To Get a Spanish-Speaking Internship
“Wisdom isn’t about accumulating more facts; it’s about understanding big truths in a deeper way.” -Melinda Gates, The Moment of Lift There is no better way to put your education into practice and improve your cultural competency than getting an internship in the real world! You can acquire heaps of knowledge in academia, but until you apply what you have learned in a work environment,...Read More
Chanin
Okay. Before we start today, have a look at this awesome video! After I watched the video, I tried to snap my fingers to chanin-chanin! It didn’t quite work and it made me remember how many years ago, my best friend spent a crazy amount of time trying to get me to do it “right.” Despite her efforts and 25 years of being Guatemalan, I still can’t make the snapping sound. Now the important...Read More
Semana Santa – All About Holy Week
¡Feliz Semana Santa! “It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Dried flowers as carpets, fruit as carved trumpets, and colorful sawdust for everyone. It’s the happiest season of all.” No, not Christmas. We are talking about Semana Santa, or “Holy Week” in English. This is normally the time when Christians celebrate Easter around the world. However, as always, Latin America...Read More
Spanish Currencies: Your Own Personal Currency Travel Guide
Do you remember the Fun with Spanish Flags blog post we shared with you a few weeks ago? With that post, we learned about the 21 Spanish-speaking countries in South America that not only have different flags, but also different currencies. Our currency travel guide attempts to organize the complicated matter of Spanish currencies in an understandable way that will be useful for you during...Read More